SUNRISE, Fla. — It was the first night of their most important homestand of the year and the final game before the trade deadline, and the Florida Panthers did not look like a team ready to gear up for a postseason push.
On the heels of an impressive win against the Tampa Bay Lightning and still playing without Aleksander Barkov for the third straight game, the Panthers stumbled through a lifeless first period Thursday and fell 2-1 to the trade-depleted Nashville Predators.
The loss keeps Florida (30-27-6) at least three points out of the second and final wild card with less than 20 games to go, and leaves the Panthers with an increasingly small margin for error to get to the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. Whether it’s the final straw for general manager Bill Zito and Co. to decide to punt on this season will be seen Friday before the deadline arrives at 3 p.m.
